The experience of being at camp is intense. You are learning so much, so quickly, it's hard to focus on anything else. But before you know it, camp is over and it's time to start looking for that first Dev job. Will you be ready? It's easy to let that moment sneak up on you unprepared.
So with that in mind, here are some tips for current campers, to help you prepare yourself to land that first job.
Today I'll be covering your blog, LinkedIn, online portfolio site, and portfolio projects. Tomorrow, in part 2, I'll cover your resume, where to find jobs (that you will qualify for), recruiters, and the interview process.
But first - when should you start?
Your blog and LinkedIn need attention while you are still doing your pre-work. You will update these resources on an ongoing basis as camp progresses. When to go live with your resume, portfolio site, and portfolio projects is up to you but I highly recommend you have them all ready to go at the same time. Week 5 or 6 is a very good target. You can always add additional portfolio projects later, but have at least one ready to go when you start sending out those resumes.
You will be very busy at camp. You do not have time to work on these things during the week. So that means these are weekend projects. I know that doesn't leave much time for rest and relaxation, but you do want a job as a Developer, right? Put the work in NOW, rest and relax when the paychecks are coming in.
#1. Blog With Employers In Mind.
Did you create your blog, like Coder Camps recommended in your pre-work? I hope so. The absolute best way to get a job is through networking. The people that read your blog know other people. Some of them work at companies that hire developers. Make sure your network knows what you are doing!
I know how easy it is to let the blogging slide, but you should be posting at LEAST once a week. Share each blog post on social media - Facebook, google+, LinkedIn, etc.
When you write your blog posts, you should assume that each post will be read by all potential future employers. That means check your spelling, maintain a professional tone, and most of all, be positive. This is where you can show an employer that you love what you are doing. It's not the place to vent about how overwhelmed you are.
Try switching off between posts that are technical in nature - speaking about the technology you are learning, and what you are able to do with it - and more casual posts that non-coders will be able to understand - speaking to the experience, how you are growing personally and professionally, and just what's on your mind.
#2. LinkedIn
Okay, you have your blog. Have you set up, and/or updated your LinkedIn?
This one's a little more straightforward:
- List Coder Camps as part of your education.
- Put a link to your blog and your online portfolio (more on this in a moment) on your LinkedIn profile.
- Make sure your profile is public!
- Send invites to all of your classmates (including those ahead and behind you!), and to the Coder Camps staff.
- When you get to phase 3, include the group project in your work history - this is a real-world application you are building, and an important part of your work experience.
- Accept invites to connect from any and all recruiters (they will be sending them to you).
- Add skills to your profile as you obtain them throughout camp.
- Endorse your classmates skills. They will endorse you back!
#3. Create an online portfolio.
Next, it's time to create an online portfolio. You can do this for free on GitHub, or on a host of other online platforms. This is a great chance to practice your HTML and CSS skills (and Javascript if you want to get fancy).
Your portfolio should link to your blog, LinkedIn, your resume, your GitHub, and any other online presence you have that's code-related. Besides this, you can highlight the skills you've learned at Coder Camps, and link to at least two projects you are proud of (more on this next).
Here's mine, as an example: lwalden.github.io
And, a quick guide to hosting simple websites on GitHub: lwalden.github.io/HostingOnGitHub
#4. Host projects online.
The most important part of your portfolio is linking to at least two projects you have created. These can be projects from class, or something you've developed on your own. I am not talking about just linking to a GitHub repo (but do that too). You want to have these projects hosted on the web. They should be polished inside and out. By that I mean the app should look good when you browse to it (outside) and the code should look good when someone checks out the source (inside).
That might mean refactoring your code, leaving useful comments in your code, using Bootstrap or Foundation, avoiding the use of HTML table elements as structure (except for tabular data) and similar best practice no-no's, and making sure you are following standard casing conventions for the languages you use.
Ask one of the Coder Camps counselors to check out your projects and give you feedback. If they give you suggestions, implement them!
As already mentioned. you can host frontend apps on GitHub for free. There are also ways to host apps that showcase your C#, MVC, and SQL skills but that can be a more complex process so give yourself extra time to work out the details if you choose to go this route.
#5. Don't Sweat Your GitHub.
Finally, an easy one! By the end of camp your GitHub account is likely to be a mess. Don't worry about it. As long as you have a few polished apps that you can refer potential employers to (ideally hosted!) the rest won't matter. There's no need to delete those early apps that you may not be super proud of by the end of camp. The people looking at you GitHub will fall into two camps - those that don't understand what they are looking at, and those that have their own collection of half-baked apps stored someplace. Either way, you don't have to worry. You may also find some of that code useful to look at down the road!
That's all for today. Tomorrow in Part 2 I'll cover your resume, where to find jobs (that you will qualify for), recruiters, and the interview process.
No comments:
Post a Comment